Master copy or patterns for machine forming of monograms and method of using same

ABSTRACT

A set of patterns for producing artistic and legible plural letter monograms in which portions of the individual letters comprising the monograms overlap, and the method of using such patterns.

United States Patent Gerald L. Hill 1047 West Onion St., Fullerton, Pa. 18052 828,868

May 29, 1969 Sept. 7, 1971 Inventor Appl. No. Filed Patented MASTER COPY OR PATTERNS FOR MACHINE FORMING OF MONOGRAMS AND METHOD OF USING SAME 4 Claims, 9 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 33/23 K Int. Cl B431 13/10 Field of Search lOl/127129; 35/28;33/23,174,1

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Eaton Francis Francis Sayford McDonald Minasy Primary Examinerl larry N. l-laroian Attorney-Glenn E. Wise 35/28 33/23 K 33/23 K 101/129 35/59 X ABSTRACT: A set of patterns for producing artistic and legible plural letter monograms in which portions of the individual letters comprising the monograms overlap, and the method of using such patterns.

PATENTED SEP 7x971 SHEET 1 UF 3 INVENI'OR Gerald L. Hi/l AGENT PATENTEDSEP 1am SHEET 3 OF 3 INVENTOR Gerald L. H/'// AGENT MASTER COPY OR PATTERNS FOR MACHINE FORMING OF MONOGRAMS AND METHOD OF USING SAME This invention relates to improvements in master copy or patterns of the type used in engraving machines for engraving artistic monograms, for example, on jewelry and other personal items, plaques and trophies, and to a method for using such copy or patterns.

By way of illustration, the invention described herein is set forth as it would be utilized in the engraving of three letter artistically overlapped and entwined script monograms of the type in which a completed monogram, composed of a larger script center letter of one height and two smaller script side letters of smaller height, is designed so as to be enclosed in an imaginary geometrical figure of closed configuration, such as a circle of a particular diameter. Henceforth in this specification this type of monogram will be termed a three letter fill-acircle overlapped and entwined monogram. However, the invention is not limited to use in forming only script monograms of the type just described, but is also useful, for example, in forming horizontally, vertically or obliquely oriented monograms composed of a plurality of overlapped script or other form of alphabet letters, or other characters wherein the individual letters of characters employed are of the same or differing heights, and wherein such letters or characters may, or may not, appear to entwine.

By way of background, there has long been a desire on the part of engravers to be able to rapidly produce monograms, by using pantograph or other engraving machines, which when completed would appear to have been formed by hand engraving. This has not been practical, however, because whereas in hand engraving it is possible for the engraver to manually guide his engraving tool so as to artistically overlap and entwine various portions of the letters or characters being utilized to form a, particular monogram, the cutting tool of the engrav ing machine is required by its stylus to follow the groove, or other guide means on the master copy or pattern located in the work-holder of the engraving machine. Thus, considering only the 26 letter English alphabet, the only previous method known to me to assure the production of artistically overlapped and entwined machine-produced monograms which would be substantial facsimiles of manually produced counterparts, would require the operator of the engraving machine to have at his disposal many thousands of patterns in order to be able to quickly produce, for example, three letter monograms covering all of the possible combinations of three letters presented by the English alphabet. Clearly, the necessity and cost of providing, storing and maintaining these thousands of patterns renders this method impractical.

As a compromise to the impractical method just discussed, producers of master copy or patterns have, for some time, made available letter pattern sets which have consisted of 26 separate plates with each plate grooved to form a different letter of the alphabet of a particular height. These pattern plates are nonnally made of brass, but may be made of transparent plastic, or other transparent material, and will be discussed further hereinbelow. In forming a given letter fill-acircle overlapped and entwined monograms with a pattern set of the type just described, it is necessary for the engraver to first locate one of the letter patterns of the first set in the workholder of the engraving machine; adjust the pantograph to cut a proper height letter; and then cut this letter into the article being monogrammed to form the central letter of the monogram, and then to place one or both of the side letter patterns in the workholder and adjust the pantograph in such manner that when the side letter, or letters are out they will artistically overlap and entwine with the first-cut center letter. Alternatively, the side letters can be cut before the center letter is cut. However, in both instances the machine operator must somehow predetermine how he wishes the finished cut monogram to appear in order to know how to adjust the pantograph elements, and to know at what relative positions he must locate the center and the side letters of this pattern set in the workholder of the engraving machine. The Francis U.S. Pat. No. 742,180, although not specifically drawn to the forming of three letter, fill-a-circle overlapped and entwined monograms, contains further discussion relative to the placement of letter patterns during the formation of overlapped and ent wined multiletter monograms.

The main shortcoming of the commercially available, 26 letter pattern sets just described, as well as in the cipher type disclosed in Francis (supra) are two-fold. First, placement of the letter patterns in the engraving machine workholder, whether brass or transparent plastic pattern sets be used, requires mental judgement and manual adjustment of individual letter patterns prior to cutting to insure that the finished monogram will, in fact, be artistically overlapped and entwined and legible, and not an illegible mass of overlapping or interferring cuts. With brass patterns, such judgement and adjustment is particularly difficult because of the opacity thereof. For, whereas with transparent pattern sets a see through layup of individual pattern plates can be made in facsimile of the monogram to be cut, and the relative positions of the individual pattern plates then somehow marked to dictate their relative placement in the engraving machine workholder, the opacity of the brass patterns requires the engraver to imagine, as best he can, how the-cuts to be made from one pattern plate will overlap and entwine with those cuts to be made from other pattern plates, and to then base his pattern placement in the engraving machine workholder on this imagined determination.

The second shortcoming mentioned above is based on the fact that each letter of the alphabet must be distinctive to perform its primary communicative function. Thus the A is not shaped like the B or C, and so forth throughout the alphabet. The success from an aesthetic viewpoint of any attempt to fit one letter of the alphabet with another, or even a duplicate of the just-mentioned one, letter of the alphabet, as is done in forming overlapped and entwined monograms, therefore, will depend not only on what particular letters of the alphabet one is attempting to fit, but also upon the actual configurations of these letters.

Since, in the commercially available pattern sets described above, as far as I am aware, there has been only one configuration provided for each individual letter of a particular typeface (e.g. Roman, Script, etc.) the engraver has had no opportunity to detennine whether or not a different configuration of a particular letter might better fit" with another letter, since he has only the one configuration available. He must therefore make do" with the patterns he has at hand. In some instances this lends to quite illegible and ratherunartistic monograms.

In the master copy or patterns l have developed, and which form the subject matter of this invention, however, I not only increase the chances of a good fit between letters by providing a plurality of different configurations for each letter of an alphabet of a particular typeface and size; but have also perfected means whereby individual elements of my master copy can be quickly and easily located relative to one another in the workholder of an engraving machine without any exercise of the imagination and with only a minimum of visual observation, mental judgement and manual adjustment. Furthermore, if a pantograph follower is used for applying a monogram to the work, the operator need not adjust the pantograph differently for the side letters than for the center letter to form a fill-a-circle monogram, because the side letters are already differently and smaller sized.

My invention can best be illustrated by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the individual pattern, plates for one letter pattern set in the master copy of my invention;

FIG. 2 is a right-hand elevational view of any one of the individual patterns of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view to an enlarged scale, of certain of the individual patterns of the pattern set of FIG. 1 composed into a see through layup to assist in illustrating certain features of my invention; FIG. 4 is a plan view to an enlarged scale of a see through layup, comparable to that shown in FIG. 3, but using unmatched, individual patterns of the pattern set of FIG. 1 which result in interfering and incomplete overlapping and entwining of the letters;

FIG. 5 shows a see through layup, similar to the one shown in FIG. 3, but employing a different center letter than seen in FIG. 3; and,

FIGS. 6, 7 8 and 9 are provided to assist in illustrating how my invention can be utilized in the cutting of an artistically overlapped and entwined, three letter, fill-a-circle monogram.

Referring now to FIG. 1 of the drawings, therein are shown five individual pattern plates, each of which is formed of a piece of substantially rigid transparent plastic material. The plate designated I has formed herein a series of grooves forming a script letter C. This plate 1 is utilized as the stylus-following pattern for forming the relatively large center letter in a machine-cut overlapped and entwined three letter fill-a-circle monogram. At the points designated 2, 3, 4 and 5 plate 1 carries locator marks for a purpose to be described. These marks may be shallow cruciform grooves, as shown, or any other suitable alternatives, such as printed marks and bored holes. Near the lower comers of plate 1 are located code characters L2 and R2 for a purpose also to be described.

Each of the four other individual letter plates 6, 7, 8 and 9 also carries a series of grooves .forming a script letter C." Plates 6, 7, 8 and 9 are utilized as stylus-following patterns for forming one or more of the relatively smaller side letters in a machine-cut overlapped and entwined three letter fill-a-circle monogram.

Plate 6, at 12, 13; plate 7, at 1'4, 15; plate 8, at 16, 17; and plate 9, at 18, 19 are all provided with locator marks formed in the same manner as marks 2, 3 4 and 5 of plate 1. Plates 6, 7, 8

and 9 at their upper ends also carry code characters, namely L1 on plate 6; L2 on plate 7; R1 on plate 8; and R2 on plate 9. The purpose of these latter code characters will be set forth hereinafter.

It should be noted at this point that each of the script Cs" on plates 6, 7, 8 and 9 are all of substantially the same height, but are all of different configurations. In addition, these latter Cs" are all of lesser height than the script C on plate 1.

It should also be pointed out at this juncture that each of plates 6, 7, 8 and-9 illustrated are just one-half the width of plate 1 which is preferably, but not necessarily, square, whereby plates 6 and 9, for example, can be laid either under (or atop) plate 1 with the right edge of plate 6 engaging the left edge of plate 9 so that the other edges of plates 6 and 9 which are not engaged coincide with the edges of plate 1. Further, all of the locator marks 2 through 5 and 12 through 19 are so located on plates 1 and 6 through 9 so that when any two of the smaller plates 6 through 9 are properly placed either under (or atop) larger plate 1 as above described, each locator mark on the smaller plates will register with a corresponding locator mark on larger plate 1. It should be further pointed out, however, that plates 1, 6, 7, 8 and 9 need not be dimensioned, as just described, as long as the locator marks are present to indicate to an operator where to overlay any given plate on another plate, or on an engraving machine copyholder which is also, in this latter instance, provided with locator marks.

Before proceeding to explain in detail how my novel master copy is to be used in forming monograms, it is felt that a visual presentation may serve to more fully explain why it is desirable to provide a plurality of different configurations of generally the same em size (as, for example, the four different Cs" on plates 6, 7, 8 and 9) in each of the letter pattern sets of my master copy. It will be noted from an inspection of FIGS. 3 and 4 that, although both figures show three letter see through layups formed, respectively, by laying plates 7 and 9 atop plate I, and then plates 5 and 8 atop plate I, the showing of FIG. 3 would be much more aesthetically acceptable to the eye of a skilled engraver, or even to an untrained observer, than the showing of FIG. 4 due to the fact that the letters in the FIG. 3 showing are artistically overlapped and entwined, and are more legible than the showing of FIG. 4 in which apparent entwinement of letters is noticeably lacking and overlapping of the letters is of such nature to produce only superimposed and not entwined letter portions, as at 10 and 11, thus presenting to an observers eye a somewhat blurred and illegible, and therefore, an unartistic relatively unacceptable fit or presentation. The reason that the FIG. 3 showing is more acceptable to the observers eye than the FIG. 4 showing stems from the fact, in this particular illustration wherein the central C in both showings are identical, that the two side C5 in FIG. 3 differ in overall configuration from the two side CS in FIG. 4. Because of this difference in configuration, the two FIG. 3 side Cs cooperate, fit or match better with the central C therein than do the two side C's in FIG. 4 match with the central C therein. Viewing FIG. 5, however, it is seen that the two side Cs" of FIG. 4 which did not match well with the central C therein, do match well when a difi'erent letter of the alphabet, in this instance a script A, is utilized as the center letter in the layup.

Returning now to FIG. 1 the indicia at the lower comers of center letter plate 1 are for the purpose of indicating to the engraver which of the side letters from a particular letter pattern set will best match with that center letter. In this instance since the indicia read L2 and R2 it means that the engraver should use the L2 side letter (or plate 7) and the R2 side letter (or plate 9) to form a monogram of the letters CCC. As stated above, FIG. 3 shows a layup consisting of plate 1 and plates 7 and 9.

It should be understood that the center letter C in FIG. 1 and the center letter A in FIG. 5 were chosen by way of example only. In a complete set of my master copy, if said master copy is formed 'of transparent plastic material, there would be five indicia and locator mark-carrying plates (such as plates 1, 6, 7, 8 and 9) for the letter C," and the same for each of the other letters, A through 2" of the alphabet, for a total of separate pattern plates. In the event my master copy is formed of brass, or if the transparency of the plates is not im portant, then there need by only 78 separate pattern plates since the script letter, the locator marks and the indicia carried by each of the two side letter plates, for example, plates 6 and 7, can be cut, respectively, into the opposite sides, see FIG. 2 at 20 and 21, for example, of a single plate.

Having now described the various elements which comprise my master copy, I will now set forth the manner in which it is to be used to form overlapped and entwined three letter, fill-acircle monograms. Let it be assumed that there is available a pantograph-type engraving machine with a copyholder and a workholder, all of which are well known in the art. Also, let it be assumed that the monogram we wish to cut is comprised 01 the letters CCC. First we place in the workholder the arti cle, e.g., a belt buckle, tie clasp or cuff link, that is to be monogrammed. Now, since it does not matter whether the two side letters or the center letter be cut first, we will arbitrarily elect to place both the two side letter C plates 7 and 9 in the machines copyholder. FIG. 6 shows plates 7 and 9 as they would appear in the machine s copyholder, but with the copyholder not shown. Then the two side letters of the monogram are cut first. FIG. 7 shows to an enlarged scale how the partially completed monogram appears on the article being engraved, with the article not being shown.

By now opening the copyholder just slightly, we can either lay plate 1 directly atop plates 7 and 9, or remove plates 7 and 9 and place plate 1 in the space previously occupied by plates 7 and 9. The copyholder is then retightened; remaining in exactly the same location as when the two side letters were cut, and the center letter is cut. FIG. 8 shows plate 1 as it would appear when mounted in the machines copyholder, with the copyholder not shown, and FIG. 9 shows the completed monogram. Numeral 22 in both FIGS. -7 and 9 shows the imaginary circle that a monogram of this type is intended to fill.

The reason that plates 7 and 9 rather than plates 6 and 8 were chosen to cooperate with plate 1 in forming the monogram just described, is because, as noted above, the code characters on plate 1, i.e., L2 and R2, designated that the side letter plates bearing like code characters L2 and R2 should be used with this central letter. This applies not only to the (3'' letter pattern set, but also to all of the other pattern sets which would be furnished with a complete alphabetic set of my master copy. ln a similar vein, if we wish to cut the monogram "CAC" the code character L1 and R1 seen through plates 6 and 8 in FIG. 5 mean that the central letter "A" requires that side letter patterns with code characters L1 and R1 be used therewith.

The letters L and R have been used as the described code characters to assist in indicating to the engraver that a plate or portion thereof bearing an L is placed at the left side of the copyholder, and a plate or portion thereof bearing an R is placed at the right side of the copyholder.

in the foregoing example, a script letter set, wherein there are side letters of different configuration. for example, differing in width span and curlicue shapes, has been described. However, the invention is applicable to letter sets of other style, wherein the L1 and L2, or R1 and R2 letters might differ from one another in manners other than curlicues or width span, such as by different proportioning, placement, or angling of their elements so as to blend or balance artistically with the elements of the center letter. Also, it should be understood that for certain center letters, the code character for the left initial might be Ll, whereas the code character for the right side initial might be L2 in order to achieve proper balance, symmetry and entwining, for example. Code combinations of L1, Ll; R1, R1; R1, R2; L2, L2; R2, R2; L2, L1 and R2; R1 might also be used in particular circumstances.

The invention is also usable in connection with photoengraving apparatus, other pattern-following machines, such as those used for sewing monograms, and for providing preliminary mockups to show a customer how his monogram will appear on the finished work.

lclaim:

1. The method of producing any one of a plurality of different three letter monograms of the overlapping letter type, each of which monograms consist of a center letter, a lefthand side letter overlapping at least a left-hand portion of said center letter, and a right-hand side letter overlapping at least a right-hand portion of said center letter, said method comprising the steps of:

providing a first series of plates with each one of said plates bearing a pattern of a different letter of the alphabet for producing only one particular center letter;

providing a second series of plates with each one of said second series of plates bearing a pattern of a different letter of the alphabet;

providing a third series of plates with each one of said third series of plates bearing a pattern of a different letter of the alphabet;

providing a fourth series of plates with each one of said fourth series of plates bearing a pattern of a different letter of the alphabet;

1 providing a fifth series of plates with each one of said fifth series of plates bearing a pattern of a different letter of the alphabet, said second and third series of plates constituting patterns for producing only said left-hand side letters, and said fourth and fifth series of plates constituting patterns for producing only said right-hand side letters;

designing the letter patterns on said first, second, third,

fourth and fifth series of plates so that the pattern on any one plate of the live series differs in overall configuration from all of the other patterns on all of the other plates of said five series whereby only one of all of the plates of said second and said third series of plates, and only one of all of the plates of said fourth and said fifih series of plates are capable of being used with a given plate of said first series of plates to produce a particular one of said plurality of different three letter monograms;

providing code means on each of the plates in each of the five series to identify to a user which two plates from said second, third, fourth and fifth series of plates must be used with a particular first series plate to produce a particular one of said different monograms; providing locator means on each plate of each series of plates whereby left-hand side and right-hand side letter pattern-bearing plates can be quickly and properly oriented relative to a center letter forming plate in the pattern holder of a pattern-following machine during the production of a particular overlapping type monogram;

placing a given one of the plates of said first series of plates in the pattern holder of a pattem-following machine, and causing said machine to produce on a workpiece a facsimile of the pattern on said given plate; and,

placing in the pattern holder of said pattern-following machine in a specific relationship to said given plate, as dictated by said locator means, the only two of the plates from said second, third, fourth and fifth series of plates that are coderelated to said given plate, as regards formation of a particular three letter monogram, and causing said machine to produce on said workpiece a facsimile of each of the patterns on each of the two last-mentioned plates, all of the aforesaid facsimiles together forming on said workpiece one of said plurality of three letter overlapping-type monograms.

2. The method of claim 1 except that at least one of the lastmentioned side letter pattern plates is placed into the pattern holder of the pattem-following machine and a facsimile is formed therefrom on the workpiece prior to placing and orienting said given plate atop said at least one plate in said pattern holder, by utilizing said locator means, for forming a facsimile therefrom.

3. The method of producing any one of a plurality of different three letter monograms of the overlapping letter type, each of which monograms consist of a center letter, a lefthand side letter overlapping at least a left-hand portion of said center letter, and a right-hand side letter overlapping at least a right-hand portion of said center letter, said method comprising the steps of:

providing a first series of patterns with each one of said patterns having a face bearing a pattern of a different letter of the alphabet for producing only one particular Center letter;

providing a second series of patterns with each one of said second series of patterns having a face bearing a pattern of a different letter of the alphabet;

providing a third series of patterns with each one of said third series of patterns having a face bearing a pattern of a difierent letter of the alphabet; providing a fourth series of patterns with each one of said fourth series of patterns having a face bearing a pattern of a different letter of the alphabet;

providing a fifth series of patterns with each one of said fifth series of patterns having a face bearing a pattern of a different letter of the alphabet, said second and third series of patterns constituting patterns for producing only said left-hand side letters, and said fourth and fifth series of patterns constituting patterns for producing only said right-hand side letters;

designing the individual letter patterns of said first, st'ccnd,

third, fourth and fifth series of patterns so that any letter pattern of any of the five series of patterns differs in overall configuration from all of the other letter patterns in all of the other of said five series of patterns whereby only one of all of the patterns of said second and said third series of patterns, and only one of all of the pattc ms of said fourth and saidfitth series of patterns are Capable of being used with a given pattern of said first series of patterns to produce a particular one of said plurality of different three letter monograms;

providing code means on each of the patterns in each of the five series to identify to a user which two patterns from said second, third, fourth and fifth series of patterns must be used with a particularfirst series pattern to produce a particular one of said different monograms; proportioning each of the letter pattern-bearing faces of each of said second, third fourth and fifth series of patterns so that the letter pattern-bearing face of each of the patterns of said second, third, fourth and fifih series of patterns constitutes a rectangle which is one-half the areal size of the letter pattern-bearing face of each'of the patterns of said first series of patterns, which are also rectangular whereby a particular center letter pattern and its two code-related side letter patterns. as regards the forming of a particular three letter monogram, can be quickly and properly oriented relative to each other in the pattern holder of a pattern-following machine during the production of such particular monogram merely by placing both of the two last-mentioned patterns side by side, letter pattern-bearing faces up, left-hand side letter pattern to the left and right-hand side letter pattern to the right, above or below and coextensive with the letter pattem-bearing face of the last-mentioned particular center lettenbearing pattern;

placing agiven one of the patterns of said first series of patterns in the pattern holder of a pattern-following machine and causing said machine to produce on a workpiece a facsimile of the letter pattern on said given pattern; and.

placing in the pattern holder of said pattem-following machine, upon and coextensive with the letter patternbearing face of said given pattern, left-hand side letter pattern to the left and right-hand side letter pattern to the right, the only two of the patterns from said second, third. fourth and fifth series of patterns that are code-related to said given pattern, as regards formation of a particular three letter monogram. and causing said machine to produce on said workpiece a facsimile of each of the letter patterns on each of the two last-mentioned patterns, all of the aforesaid facsimiles together forming on said workpiece one of said plurality of three letter overlapping-type monograms.

4. The method of claim 3 except that the two last-mentioned patterns are placed in side to side engagement in the pattern holder of the pattern-following machine, left-hand side letter pattern to the left and right-hand side letter pattern to the right, and two facsimiles are produced therefrom prior to placing and orienting said given pattern in said pattern holder, by superimposition of said given pattern atop and coextensive with said two last-mentioned patterns, for forming a facsimile therefrom. 

1. The method of producing any one of a plurality of different three letter monograms of the overlapping letter type, each of which monograms consist of a center letter, a left-hand side letter overlapping at least a left-hand portion of said center letter, and a right-hand side letter overlapping at least a right-hand portion of said center letter, said method comprising the steps of: providing a first series of plates with each one of said plates bearing a pattern of a different letter of the alphabet for producing only one particular center letter; providing a second series of plates with each one of said second series of plates bearing a pattern of a different letter of the alphabet; providing a third series of plates with each one of said third series of plates bearing a pattern of a different letter of the alphabet; providing a fourth series of plates with each one of said fourth series of plates bearing a pattern of a different letter of the alphabet; providing a fifth series of plates with each one of said fifth series of plates bearing a pattern of a different letter of the alphabet, said second and third series of plates constituting patterns for producing only said left-hand side letters, and said fourth and fifth series of plates constituting patterns for producing only said right-hand side letters; designing the letter patterns on said first, second, third, fourth and fifth series of plates so that the pattern on any one plate of the five series differs in overall configuration from all of the other patterns on all of the other plates of said five series whereby only one of all of the plates of said second and said third series of plates, and only one of all of the plates of said fourth and said fifth series of plates are capable of being used with a given plate of said first series of plates to produce a particular one of said plurality of different three letter monograms; providing code means on each of the plates in each of the five series to identify to a user which two plates from said second, third, fourth and fifth series of plates must be used with a particular first series plate to produce a particular one of said different monograms; providing locator means on each plate of each series of plates whereby left-hand side and right-hand side letter patternbearing plates can be quickly and properly oriented relative to a center letter forming plate in the pattern holder of a pattern-following machine during the production of a particular overlapping type monogram; placing a given one of the plates of said first series of plates in the pattern holder of a pattern-following machine, and causing said machine to produce on a workpiece a facsimile of the pattern on said given plate; and, placing in the pattern holder of said pattern-following machine in a specific relationship to said given plate, as dictated by said locator means, the only two of the plates from said second, third, fourth and fifth series of plates that are coderelated to said given plate, as regards formation of a particular three letter monogram, and causing said machine to produce on said workpiece a facsimile of each of the patterns on each of the two last-mentioned plates, all of the aforesaid facsimiles together forming on said workpiece one of said plurality of three letter overlapping-type monograms.
 2. The method of claim 1 except that at least one of the last-mentioned side letter pattern plates is placed into the pattern holder of the paTtern-following machine and a facsimile is formed therefrom on the workpiece prior to placing and orienting said given plate atop said at least one plate in said pattern holder, by utilizing said locator means, for forming a facsimile therefrom.
 3. The method of producing any one of a plurality of different three letter monograms of the overlapping letter type, each of which monograms consist of a center letter, a left-hand side letter overlapping at least a left-hand portion of said center letter, and a right-hand side letter overlapping at least a right-hand portion of said center letter, said method comprising the steps of: providing a first series of patterns with each one of said patterns having a face bearing a pattern of a different letter of the alphabet for producing only one particular center letter; providing a second series of patterns with each one of said second series of patterns having a face bearing a pattern of a different letter of the alphabet; providing a third series of patterns with each one of said third series of patterns having a face bearing a pattern of a different letter of the alphabet; providing a fourth series of patterns with each one of said fourth series of patterns having a face bearing a pattern of a different letter of the alphabet; providing a fifth series of patterns with each one of said fifth series of patterns having a face bearing a pattern of a different letter of the alphabet, said second and third series of patterns constituting patterns for producing only said left-hand side letters, and said fourth and fifth series of patterns constituting patterns for producing only said right-hand side letters; designing the individual letter patterns of said first, second, third, fourth and fifth series of patterns so that any letter pattern of any of the five series of patterns differs in overall configuration from all of the other letter patterns in all of the other of said five series of patterns whereby only one of all of the patterns of said second and said third series of patterns, and only one of all of the patterns of said fourth and said fifth series of patterns are capable of being used with a given pattern of said first series of patterns to produce a particular one of said plurality of different three letter monograms; providing code means on each of the patterns in each of the five series to identify to a user which two patterns from said second, third, fourth and fifth series of patterns must be used with a particular first series pattern to produce a particular one of said different monograms; proportioning each of the letter pattern-bearing faces of each of said second, third, fourth and fifth series of patterns so that the letter pattern-bearing face of each of the patterns of said second, third, fourth and fifth series of patterns constitutes a rectangle which is one-half the areal size of the letter pattern-bearing face of each of the patterns of said first series of patterns, which are also rectangular whereby a particular center letter pattern and its two code-related side letter patterns, as regards the forming of a particular three letter monogram, can be quickly and properly oriented relative to each other in the pattern holder of a pattern-following machine during the production of such particular monogram merely by placing both of the two last-mentioned patterns side by side, letter pattern-bearing faces up, left-hand side letter pattern to the left and right-hand side letter pattern to the right, above or below and coextensive with the letter pattern-bearing face of the last-mentioned particular center letter-bearing pattern; placing a given one of the patterns of said first series of patterns in the pattern holder of a pattern-following machine and causing said machine to produce on a workpiece a facsimile of the letter pattern on said given pattern; and, placing in the pattern holder of said pattern-following machine, upon and coextensive with the letter pattern-bearing Face of said given pattern, left-hand side letter pattern to the left and right-hand side letter pattern to the right, the only two of the patterns from said second, third, fourth and fifth series of patterns that are code-related to said given pattern, as regards formation of a particular three letter monogram, and causing said machine to produce on said workpiece a facsimile of each of the letter patterns on each of the two last-mentioned patterns, all of the aforesaid facsimiles together forming on said workpiece one of said plurality of three letter overlapping-type monograms.
 4. The method of claim 3 except that the two last-mentioned patterns are placed in side to side engagement in the pattern holder of the pattern-following machine, left-hand side letter pattern to the left and right-hand side letter pattern to the right, and two facsimiles are produced therefrom prior to placing and orienting said given pattern in said pattern holder, by superimposition of said given pattern atop and coextensive with said two last-mentioned patterns, for forming a facsimile therefrom. 